Secretary of State’s Office Releases Data on Party Affiliation Changes
Written by broebling on October 22, 2018
Press Release – The Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office today released data on the number of persons who changed their party affiliation on their voter registration in the weeks before or on the date of the 2018 Primary Election – August 21st.
12,509 persons in total changed their party affiliation between July 6th and September 20th:
- 6,057 Democrats changed and registered as Republicans;
- 4,355 Unaffiliated persons changed and registered as Republicans;
- 744 Unaffiliated persons changed and registered as Democrats;
- 477 members of the Constitution and Libertarian parties changed and registered as Republicans;
- 430 Republicans changed and registered as Democrats; and
- 296 persons of various parties changed and registered as Unaffiliated.
Of those 12,509 persons who changed their party affiliation, 701 subsequently changed their party affiliation again and re-registered back to their original 2018 party affiliation.
A person is allowed under Wyoming law to change their party registration. Party changes are entered into Wyoming’s voter registration system by county clerks and their staff. County clerks have until 30 days after an election to enter registration changes into the statewide database.
“It is absolutely vital that anyone analyzing these party change numbers understand that these numbers are tied to a person’s voter registration and do not represent total ballots cast in the election, and that these numbers do not indicate for whom a person voted,” said State Election Director Kai Schon.
